


Red Lilies

by ellis_end



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/F, Memories, Nostalgia, graveyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26103196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellis_end/pseuds/ellis_end
Summary: Narcissa visits Lily's final resting place and comes across Harry.
Relationships: Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Red Lilies

Narcissa bent down and laid a bouquet of red lilies gently on the cold stone. Brightly-coloured leaves twirled around her in the wind, her red coat flapping at her thighs, the same one Lily wore so many years ago on a certain unforgettable trip to Hogsmeade that solidified their feelings for each other. Narcissa hugged it tightly to her body, seeking the familiar yet long gone comfort. She woke up this morning feeling very nostalgic. It was a good few weeks past Halloween, past the date Lily Evans lost her life.

_Potter, not Evans... Lily Potter_ , Narcissa reminded herself bitterly as she glanced at the grave in front of her, bearing the name that has been on her mind so much recently.

Suddenly she heard the unmistakable swoosh of apparition and footsteps on the pavement behind her. 

"Narcissa?" the familiar surprised voice of the Boy Who Lived reached her from behind "What are you doing here?"

Narcissa didn't turn around waiting for Harry to come up and stand beside her in front of his parents' grave. She had thought about it before and the idea of telling someone the truth always terrified her, but not then, not in that moment. _Maybe Harry deserves to know,_ she thought to herself. Narcissa glanced sideways at the young man who stood beside her, he was Draco's age, just entering his adult years... yet knowing the perils of a wizard's life perhaps better than many. Sometimes she forgot that despite his overwhelming resemblance to James Potter the boy looked like Lily. He had the same kind green eyes.

"Your mother and I were close once" Narcissa said slowly and carefully noticing from the corner of her eye the surprise and weariness in Harry's expression "Long ago, before I started dating Lucius"

She turned towards Harry to see the suspicion on his face. Of course he didn't believe her. She didn't blame him, after all that's gone on during the war he had the right and perhaps good sense to be weary of her.

"It was in our sixth year that we became uhm..." Narcissa glanced at Harry before continuing with caution "particularly close... but our paths parted during the First Wizarding War. Your mother joined the Order of the Phoenix and I had a duty to my family."

Silence fell in Godric's Hallows' graveyard. Harry was too stunned to speak. He was surprised to find Nacissa Malfoy paying her respects at his parents' resting place but he did not expect to hear this story now trickling out of Narcissa's lips.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done, parting ways with Lily" Narcissa stared ahead as if in a trance "I haven't seen her in almost two decades, we were so young when we said our goodbyes, she was eighteen, like you now, and I a year older... it was so long ago you'd think I'd forget, but I don't think I ever will... And then she reconnected with your father and I married Lucius out of duty" Narcissa turned to face Harry again.

"So you see Harry Potter, I had no other choice but to protect you that day during the Battle of Hogwarts..." she trailed off as if talking to herself "Protecting her son was the last thing I could have done for Lily Evans" 

Narcissa gently pressed the tips of her gloved slender fingers to her mouth and brought them to the cold stone of the Potters' grave before walking away without a word. Leaving Harry standing over the red lilies on his parents' gravestone pondering on what she had just told him...


End file.
